Po męstwie

After Valour is a radically open-minded history of masculinity in contemporary Polish culture. One journalist described it as ‘eye-opening, groundbreaking and thorough’ while a literary scholar called it ‘probably the most important Polish-language publication in recent years’ to address the social implications of gender and sexuality.

Author Wojciech Śmieja, a noted scholar of gender studies and literary history, offers a diagnosis of the ongoing crisis of masculinity through a detailed, often surprising journey through 20th-century Poland. The book is divided into three sections, each corresponding to a distinct period in Polish history and its prevailing fiction around manhood: ‘Bravery’, about the interwar period (1918–1939); ‘Advancement’, about life under communism (1945–1989); and ‘Success’, about the transition to liberal democracy in the 1990s. The study ends on a cautiously optimistic note, suggesting that global forces, local movements, and individual actions could lead to greater equality and a more just world.

Written in an erudite, yet playful style, After Valour provides numerous examples from literature, photography and pop culture. Students and educators working on Polish history and culture will consider it an important addition to their libraries. The book will appeal to readers interested in gender and sexuality, just as it fills an important gap in representations of central and eastern European perspectives on those topics.